Come Home With One Picture Everybody Is In
You booked Occidental at Xcaret Destination so the whole week would fit inside one number — which makes you exactly the family that comes home with four hundred photos and not one with everybody in it. The week runs the way it always runs: the park day, the pool day, the day nobody leaves the room, and a camera roll where one parent is permanently missing, because somebody always has to hold the phone. One mom wrote us last February with a headcount and an apology in the same line: "Seven of us, two of them under five, and we have never paid a photographer in our lives." She went home with the only frame from that trip that has all seven people standing in it.
We've photographed thousands of sessions across Playa del Carmen, and the families who message us from this hotel are almost never people who hire photographers. That is exactly who our pricing is built for: there is no session fee, so ten photos comes to $150 USD — which turns the whole thing from a splurge into a decision you make over breakfast. Six years and more than a thousand clients in, it is still the cheapest thing on your trip that you will still be looking at in twenty years.
Three Shoots We Photograph for Families Staying Here
The families who write us from this hotel arrive as a unit: the kids, and very often a grandparent or two who quietly paid for a chunk of the week. Nobody is a model, most have never hired a photographer before, and everybody is working inside a budget they have already spent. These are the three sessions we photograph most for guests staying here.
Families with little kids
Small children are the reason we shoot early and keep it short. We work in bursts — dig, run, splash, then a frame — and we are off the sand inside an hour, before anyone is hot, hungry or done with us. The beach we use has calm, shallow water at the edge, so a two-year-old can wade while we work instead of being held still for pictures he will resent by lunchtime. Our family session guide shows the pace we mean.
The grandparents’ trip
When the grandparents come along, the group photo stops being optional — and it is usually the one that does not exist yet. We choreograph it so nobody hides in the back row: the full lineup first while everyone is fresh, then quick rotations — grandparents with the baby, the cousins in a heap, each little family on its own. That is a group session, and it fits inside the same hour.
Everyday vacation memories
No occasion at all, and no announcement. Plenty of guests here simply want real photographs of the week instead of a camera roll full of strangers’ shoulders — the toddler meeting the sea, the teenagers pretending they are too cool for this. Our vacation photoshoot guide shows the kind of easy frames an hour like that produces.
How We Get You From Your Room to Open Sand
You are staying at Km 282 of the Carretera Federal, roughly ten kilometres — about six miles — south of downtown Playa del Carmen, which sounds like a problem until you price the ride. A taxi into town runs ten to fifteen minutes, and it is the same taxi you were already going to take for dinner on Fifth Avenue — so most families here shoot on the way in and stay for the evening rather than making a separate trip of it. Cancun airport is just under an hour north and Tulum is about forty-five minutes south, which is why we usually suggest booking the first or second morning: you land, you settle, and the photos are done before the week gets busy.
Where we take you is Punta Esmeralda — open, free and public, with a freshwater cenote running straight out onto the sand, which means the kids have something to do between frames instead of asking how much longer. Playa Mamitas, closer to the middle of town, is the other option; with toddlers we almost always pick Esmeralda, because a bored two-year-old ends a session faster than weather does. Either way you get open sand with the real Playa del Carmen behind you, rather than loungers and towers in every frame.
For couples or groups of up to 4, we can pick you up. Message us and we’ll work it out based on your hotel.
Travelling without the kids for once, or marking something bigger? Ask about our signature beach-gown editorial sessions in Playa del Carmen — metres of fabric in the morning breeze, made for the one frame that belongs on a wall.
Simple Pricing, No Session Fee
Pricing is refreshingly simple: there is no session fee. You pay $15 USD per photo with a 10-photo minimum ($150 USD), or choose a group package from $200 USD when the whole family wants in — so you only ever pay for the images you love, which takes all the pressure off an hour with unpredictable toddlers. You can see everything we offer, and hundreds of recent sessions, on our Playa del Carmen photographer page.
Every hotel has its own rules about photography on the property. We know how each one works — message us and we’ll tell you exactly what your options are where you’re staying.
Almost nobody who books us has been photographed properly before, and they usually apologise for it in the first message. There is nothing to apologise for — we direct the whole thing, and you can see how that turns out on our Playa del Carmen photographer page. Send us your dates and we will tell you which morning of your week to keep free.
Ready to Get Your Whole Family in One Frame?
Tell us your dates and how many of you are travelling, and we will hold a morning for you. The early slots go first in high season.
Why a Session Here Is an Easy Yes
Most families staying at Occidental at Xcaret Destination have never hired a photographer. Here is what makes this the trip they finally do it on.
-
You only pay for what you love
There is no session fee. You see the whole gallery afterwards and choose from it, so nobody is buying a hundred photos of the same wave.
-
It rides along with a plan you had
The ride into town is the one you were already taking for dinner. We shoot on the way in, and your evening is untouched.
-
Built around small kids
One hour, short bursts, calm shallow water to wade in. We stop before anyone melts down, and the candids in between are usually the keepers.
-
We direct the whole thing
Nobody here has done this before, and that is fine. We tell everyone where to stand and what to do with their hands, so it looks like your family and not like posing.
Family Sessions at Occidental at Xcaret Destination — FAQ
Ten photos is $150 USD. Is that really worth it on a family vacation?
It is the question almost every family here asks, and it is a fair one. Look at what else the week costs: the ride into town, one dinner out, one afternoon of activities — all gone by Sunday. Ten photographs with all of you in them, including the parent who held the phone all week, are on your wall for twenty years. There is no session fee, and you choose the images after you have seen them, so you never pay for something you do not want.
Is a beach session realistic with a toddler?
Yes, and toddlers are most of what we photograph. We do not ask small children to hold poses — we shoot in short bursts and let them dig, run and wade while we work, catching the real frames in between. An hour early, before it gets hot, is all it takes, and the candids are almost always what families end up printing.
We are not models and we have never done this. Will it look awkward?
No, and practically nobody who books us has been photographed properly before — they usually apologise for it in the first message. There is nothing to apologise for. We direct the entire hour: where to stand, where to look, and when to simply talk to each other and ignore us. What comes out looks like your family, not like posing.
Where do we meet you if we are staying at Occidental at Xcaret Destination?
At the public beach we agree on beforehand — usually Punta Esmeralda, which is free and open, and about a ten to fifteen minute taxi ride north from the hotel at Km 282. We send the exact pin over WhatsApp the day before, and for couples or groups of up to four we can pick you up instead.
How long is the session, and when in the week should we book it?
Plan on about an hour on the sand. We suggest the first or second morning of your trip: you are rested, nobody is sunburnt yet, and if the weather turns we still have days left to move you. Families who wait until the last morning are the ones who occasionally go home without photos.